Logging Xcountry time.

[Don P]

Sorry to beat this dead horse.... Here is my trip:
Leg1 : 49.3 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg2 : 59.0 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg3 : 36.2 NM .4 Hobbs

How much of this can legally be logged as Cross Country Time?

[Andy Hawkins]

Hi,

Post by Don P
Leg1 : 49.3 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg2 : 59.0 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg3 : 36.2 NM .4 Hobbs
How much of this can legally be logged as Cross Country Time?

I'm assuming you're in the US. Is there some reason why logging Cross
Country time is important there? Are you a student pilot?

Personally, I'd have thought that any flight that lands at another airfield
is a Cross Country flight. Are these 3 legs to different airfields?

Failing that, isn't the definition of a XC flight something like one that
goes more than 10 or 20nm away from the 'base' airfield? If so, I'd again
expect all of those flights to be logged (assuming you didn't do 49 nm by
circling the Overhead of your home field!)

Interested in knowing why XC time is relevant. I think in the UK we have to
have a certain number of hours XC time to be issued your PPL, but it's not
an awful lot, so should easily becovered by the Nav practice flights and
QXC.

Andy

[Don P]

Post by Andy Hawkins
Hi,

Post by Don P
Leg1 : 49.3 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg2 : 59.0 NM .6 Hobbs
Leg3 : 36.2 NM .4 Hobbs
How much of this can legally be logged as Cross Country Time?

I'm assuming you're in the US. Is there some reason why logging Cross
Country time is important there? Are you a student pilot?
Personally, I'd have thought that any flight that lands at another airfield
is a Cross Country flight. Are these 3 legs to different airfields?
Failing that, isn't the definition of a XC flight something like one that
goes more than 10 or 20nm away from the 'base' airfield? If so, I'd again
expect all of those flights to be logged (assuming you didn't do 49 nm by
circling the Overhead of your home field!)
Interested in knowing why XC time is relevant. I think in the UK we have to
have a certain number of hours XC time to be issued your PPL, but it's not
an awful lot, so should easily becovered by the Nav practice flights and
QXC.
Andy

Yes, I'm in the US. The "law" states that a xcountry flight is from
one airport to another that is over 50NM. Some say that if your first
leg is over 50, then all of the time in that flight counts, even if
you stop at a didfferent airport along the way, say 25 miles back.
I've neve seen a concrete answer on this. It doesn't make a big deal,
but you also have to have considerable more Cross Country hours for
both the instrument and commercial ratings.

[three-eight-hotel]

My understanding is that it's not necessarily a flight from one aiport to another, that is over 50NM, rather that one of the points of landing has a distance over 50NM from the original point of departure.

Based on that understanding, if the landing destination of Leg1 "OR" the landing destination of Leg2 "OR" the landing destination of Leg3 has a straight-line distance of more than 50NM from your departure airport (any of them), you can log it "ALL" as cross country (1.6 Hobbs)

There is an intepretation response on the FAA site, that might help: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2009/Louis%20Glenn.pdf

The key take-away is:
Section 61.1 (b)(3)(ii), in relevant part, defines cross-country time for the purposes of meeting the aeronautical experience for a private pilot certificate, a commercial pilot certificate, an instrument rating, or for the exercise of recreational pilot privileges. For these purposes, cross-country time is time acquired during a flight conducted in an appropriate aircraft that includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nm from the original point of departure and that involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

Hope that helps!

Best Regards,
Todd

[gmoore]

It's not the 'law' cross country is simply landing at a different airport. there is no 50 mile requirement for cross country. There are some certificate requirements that require a certain number of hours of x/c flights greater than 50 miles - but that's a certificate requirement - not a definition of x/c.

And remember - in the end - it's your logbook - you can put whatever you want in it....